OpenAI partners with Samsung and SK Hynix on $500B Stargate AI infrastructure project
By Kim Tong-Hyung | Edited by Andrew Zinin
OpenAI announced on Wednesday new partnerships with South Korean tech conglomerates Samsung and SK Hynix to provide advanced chips and solutions for Stargate, a massive $500 billion AI infrastructure project.
The deal follows OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s meeting with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and leading corporate executives in Seoul. President Lee hailed the agreements as a major boost for Korea’s semiconductor industry, reinforcing its position in the AI era while creating new jobs.
Chip Industry Commitment
Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix—the world’s two largest memory chipmakers—will accelerate advanced chip production to meet OpenAI’s growing memory demands.
In addition, OpenAI reached separate agreements with SK Telecom to explore building a major AI data center, dubbed “Stargate Korea”, and with other Samsung affiliates on data center technology and floating data centers, which could cut land use, cooling costs, and carbon emissions.
Vision for AI Leadership
Altman emphasized Korea’s strengths: “Korea has all the ingredients to be a global leader in AI—incredible tech talent, world-class infrastructure, strong government support, and a thriving ecosystem.”
Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong added: “We are at a pivotal moment with the advent of AI, and the industry must collaborate to chart the future effectively.”
Stargate Project Scope
Stargate—a joint venture of OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle, backed by U.S. President Donald Trump—aims to massively scale computing infrastructure to power next-generation AI. The consortium plans to invest up to $500 billion into large-scale data centers and energy generation projects.
OpenAI also announced that its flagship AI data center in Texas will be joined by five new U.S. sites, including two more in Texas, one in New Mexico, one in Ohio, and another in the Midwest.
